Truth is far, far stranger than Ficarra and Requa's entertaining fiction, which takes dramatic licence with dialogue and abbreviates the exploits of their white collar criminal during the 1980s and 1990s, who escaped incarceration four times and has paid a terrible price for humiliating the US prison service.

The real Stephen Russell was handed a 144-year sentence and must spend 23 hours every day confined to his cell without visitors. That's no laughing matter.

When we first meet Stephen (Carrey), he is a happily married police officer with a beautiful wife, Debbie (Mann), and young daughter.

However, the family man has a secret: He is gay.

When he can no longer keep the secret, Stephen comes out to his wife and moves to Florida with boyfriend Jimmy (Santoro).

The cost of living fabulously is perilously high, and Stephen breaks the law to finance his lavish tastes.

The authorities eventually catch up with the swindler and sentence him to time in prison where he meets softly spoken Phillip Morris (McGregor).

The attraction is instant, and Stephen schemes to become his lover's cellmate.

When he finally gains parole, Stephen poses as a lawyer to get Phillip out of prison early, but once they are united on the outside, the former con man struggles to mend his ways.

Phillip lands a high-profile position as chief financial officer at a large corporation, where the temptation to embezzle is irresistible.

When the police invariably come knocking for their man, Phillip is distraught: "I don't care about the money," he pleads, "All I want is you. I just want us to be together."

I Love You Phillip Morris is sweet, sexy and at times hilarious, posing the obvious dilemma: Can a gay con man go straight?

Carrey keeps his usual nervous tics and funny voices in check and the rapport with McGregor, sporting a Southern accent and cropped blond hair, anchors the picture.

Ficarra and Requa treat characters with affection and don't shy away from the physicality of Stephen and Phillip's relationship, creating a wonderfully odd couple.

We believe in the characters and root for them, even though we know that everything Phillip says and does is for his own financial and emotional gain.